Evacuation using digital twins

ABSTRACT

A system, program product, and method are provided for leveraging cognitive systems and a digital twin computing system for facility evacuation, and, more specifically, to leveraging a trained cognitive system to automatically facilitate executing an effective evacuation during an emergency through a digital twin of the affected facility structure and digital twins of the evacuees. Digital twins for a structure and each occupant thereof are created through machine learning techniques. Environmental measurements representative of environmental conditions within a structure are collected. The structural digital twin predicts potential environmental conditions adverse to occupants within the structure. Evacuation routes for the occupants are determined and atmosphere pressures within the evacuation routes are modulated, thereby reducing the severity of the adverse environmental conditions within the evacuation routes to facilitate the evacuation of the occupants from the structure.

BACKGROUND

The present disclosure relates to cognitive systems and a digital twincomputing system for facility evacuation, and, more specifically, toleveraging a trained cognitive system to automatically facilitateexecuting an effective evacuation during an emergency through a digitaltwin of the affected facility's structure and digital twins of theevacuees.

Many known facility structures function as enclosures, such as officebuildings, apartment buildings, shopping centers, and industrialfacilities. Each of these may have a number of individuals at leasttemporarily enclosed therein. Under some circumstances, conditions maygenerate emergency conditions that may require evacuation of theindividuals from the affected areas, up to, and including, the entirestructure of the facility. During such evacuation, it is possible that alarge number of individuals will be leaving the affected areas andseeking haven and shelter elsewhere. Such known enclosures may includefeatures such as visual strobe alarms and pre-recorded evacuationinstructions. However, obstacles such as smoke may impair someindividuals' abilities to navigate themselves to safety, therebyincreasing chaotic conditions in an already chaotic environment.

SUMMARY

A system, computer program product, and method are provided forleveraging a trained cognitive system to automatically facilitateexecuting an effective evacuation during an emergency through a digitaltwin of the affected facility structure and digital twins of theevacuees.

In one aspect, a computer system is provided to leverage a trainedcognitive system to automatically facilitate executing an effectiveevacuation during an emergency through a digital twin of the affectedfacility and digital twins of the evacuees. The system includes a serverincluding at least one processing device and at least one memory deviceoperably coupled to the at least one processing device. The system alsoincludes a ventilation system communicatively coupled to the serve. Theventilation system and the server are cooperatively configured tocollect one or more environmental measurements representative of one ormore environmental conditions within a structure. The structure at leastpartially encloses the ventilation system and one or more passagewaystherein. The ventilation system and the server are further cooperativelyconfigured to predict, subject to the collected one or moreenvironmental measurements, one or more environmental conditions adverseto one or more occupants within the structure. In addition, theventilation system and the server are cooperatively configured todetermine, subject to the one or more adverse environmental conditionsdetermination, one or more evacuation routes including at least a firstportion of the one or more passageways. Moreover, the ventilation systemand the server are cooperatively configured to modulate atmospherepressures within the one or more evacuation routes, and reduce, at leastpartially, subject to the atmosphere pressures modulations, the one ormore adverse environmental conditions within the one or more evacuationroutes.

In another aspect, a computer program product is provided to leverage atrained cognitive system to automatically facilitate executing aneffective evacuation during an emergency through a digital twin of theaffected facility structure and digital twins of the evacuees. Thecomputer program product includes one or more computer readable storagemedia, and program instructions collectively stored on the one or morecomputer storage media. The product also includes program instructionsto collect one or more environmental measurements representative of oneor more environmental conditions within a structure, where the structureis at least partially enclosing a ventilation system and one or morepassageways therein. The product further includes program instructionsto predict, subject to the collected one or more environmentalmeasurements, one or more environmental conditions adverse to one ormore occupants within the structure. The product also includes programinstructions to determine, subject to the one or more adverseenvironmental conditions determination, one or more evacuation routesincluding at least a first portion of the one or more passageways. Theproduct further includes program instructions to modulate atmospherepressures within the one or more evacuation routes. The product alsoincludes program instructions to reduce, at least partially, subject tothe atmosphere pressures modulations, the one or more adverseenvironmental conditions within the one or more evacuation routes.

In yet another aspect, a computer-implemented method is provided toleverage a trained cognitive system to automatically facilitateexecuting an effective evacuation during an emergency through a digitaltwin of the affected facility structure and digital twins of theevacuees. The method includes collecting one or more environmentalmeasurements representative of one or more environmental conditionswithin a structure. The structure is at least partially enclosing aventilation system and one or more passageways therein. The method alsoincludes predicting, subject to the collected one or more environmentalmeasurements, one or more environmental conditions adverse to one ormore occupants within the structure. The method further includesdetermining, subject to the one or more adverse environmental conditionsdetermination, one or more evacuation routes including at least a firstportion of the one or more passageways. The method also includesmodulating atmosphere pressures within the one or more evacuationroutes, and reducing, at least partially, subject to the atmospherepressures modulations, the one or more adverse environmental conditionswithin the one or more evacuation routes.

The present Summary is not intended to illustrate each aspect of, everyimplementation of, and/or every embodiment of the present disclosure.These and other features and advantages will become apparent from thefollowing detailed description of the present embodiment(s), taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The drawings included in the present application are incorporated into,and form part of, the specification. They illustrate embodiments of thepresent disclosure and, along with the description, serve to explain theprinciples of the disclosure. The drawings are illustrative of certainembodiments and do not limit the disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram illustrating a cloud computer environment,in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram illustrating a set of functional abstractionmodel layers provided by the cloud computing environment, in accordancewith some embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 3 is a block diagram illustrating a computer system/server that maybe used as a cloud-based support system, to implement the processesdescribed herein, in accordance with some embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating a computer system includingan artificial intelligence platform suitable for leveraging a trainedcognitive system to automatically facilitate executing an effectiveevacuation during an emergency through a digital twin of the affectedfacility structure and digital twins of the evacuees, in accordance withsome embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram illustrating artificial intelligence platformtools, as shown and described in FIG. 4, and their associatedapplication program interfaces, in accordance with some embodiments ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 6 is a schematic diagram illustrating a structure and theassociated ventilation system, in accordance with some embodiments ofthe present disclosure.

FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram illustrating a cooperative relationshipbetween the artificial intelligence platform of FIG. 4 and theventilation system of FIG. 6, in accordance with some embodiments of thepresent disclosure.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart of a process for creating a digital twin of theaffected structure and digital twins of the evacuees, in accordance withsome embodiments of the present disclosure.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart of a process for evacuating occupants from thestructure, in accordance with some embodiments of the presentdisclosure.

While the present disclosure is amenable to various modifications andalternative forms, specifics thereof have been shown by way of examplein the drawings and will be described in detail. It should beunderstood, however, that the intention is not to limit the presentdisclosure to the particular embodiments described. On the contrary, theintention is to cover all modifications, equivalents, and alternativesfalling within the spirit and scope of the present disclosure.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

It will be readily understood that the components of the presentembodiments, as generally described and illustrated in the Figuresherein, may be arranged and designed in a wide variety of differentconfigurations. Thus, the following detailed description of theembodiments of the apparatus, system, method, and computer programproduct of the present embodiments, as presented in the Figures, is notintended to limit the scope of the embodiments, as claimed, but ismerely representative of selected embodiments. In addition, it will beappreciated that, although specific embodiments have been describedherein for purposes of illustration, various modifications may be madewithout departing from the spirit and scope of the embodiments.

Reference throughout this specification to “a select embodiment,” “atleast one embodiment,” “one embodiment,” “another embodiment,” “otherembodiments,” or “an embodiment” and similar language means that aparticular feature, structure, or characteristic described in connectionwith the embodiment is included in at least one embodiment. Thus,appearances of the phrases “a select embodiment,” “at least oneembodiment,” “in one embodiment,” “another embodiment,” “otherembodiments,” or “an embodiment” in various places throughout thisspecification are not necessarily referring to the same embodiment.

The illustrated embodiments will be best understood by reference to thedrawings, wherein like parts are designated by like numerals throughout.The following description is intended only by way of example, and simplyillustrates certain selected embodiments of devices, systems, andprocesses that are consistent with the embodiments as claimed herein.

It is to be understood that although this disclosure includes a detaileddescription on cloud computing, implementation of the teachings recitedherein are not limited to a cloud computing environment. Rather,embodiments of the present disclosure are capable of being implementedin conjunction with any other type of computing environment now known orlater developed.

Cloud computing is a model of service delivery for enabling convenient,on-demand network access to a shared pool of configurable computingresources (e.g., networks, network bandwidth, servers, processing,memory, storage, applications, virtual machines, and services) that canbe rapidly provisioned and released with minimal management effort orinteraction with a provider of the service. This cloud model may includeat least five characteristics, at least three service models, and atleast four deployment models.

Characteristics are as follows.

On-demand self-service: a cloud consumer can unilaterally provisioncomputing capabilities, such as server time and network storage, asneeded automatically without requiring human interaction with theservice's provider.

Broad network access: capabilities are available over a network andaccessed through standard mechanisms that promote use by heterogeneousthin or thick client platforms (e.g., mobile phones, laptops, and PDAs).

Resource pooling: the provider's computing resources are pooled to servemultiple consumers using a multi-tenant model, with different physicaland virtual resources dynamically assigned and reassigned according todemand. There is a sense of location independence in that the consumergenerally has no control or knowledge over the exact location of theprovided resources but may be able to specify location at a higher levelof abstraction (e.g., country, state, or datacenter).

Rapid elasticity: capabilities can be rapidly and elasticallyprovisioned, in some cases automatically, to quickly scale out andrapidly released to quickly scale in. To the consumer, the capabilitiesavailable for provisioning often appear to be unlimited and can bepurchased in any quantity at any time.

Measured service: cloud systems automatically control and optimizeresource use by leveraging a metering capability at some level ofabstraction appropriate to the type of service (e.g., storage,processing, bandwidth, and active user accounts). Resource usage can bemonitored, controlled, and reported, providing transparency for both theprovider and consumer of the utilized service.

Service Models are as follows.

Software as a Service (SaaS): the capability provided to the consumer isto use the provider's applications running on a cloud infrastructure.The applications are accessible from various client devices through athin client interface such as a web browser (e.g., web-based e-mail).The consumer does not manage or control the underlying cloudinfrastructure including network, servers, operating systems, storage,or even individual application capabilities, with the possible exceptionof limited user-specific application configuration settings.

Platform as a Service (PaaS): the capability provided to the consumer isto deploy onto the cloud infrastructure consumer-created or acquiredapplications created using programming languages and tools supported bythe provider. The consumer does not manage or control the underlyingcloud infrastructure including networks, servers, operating systems, orstorage, but has control over the deployed applications and possiblyapplication hosting environment configurations.

Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS): the capability provided to theconsumer is to provision processing, storage, networks, and otherfundamental computing resources where the consumer is able to deploy andrun arbitrary software, which can include operating systems andapplications. The consumer does not manage or control the underlyingcloud infrastructure but has control over operating systems, storage,deployed applications, and possibly limited control of select networkingcomponents (e.g., host firewalls).

Deployment Models are as follows.

Private cloud: the cloud infrastructure is operated solely for anorganization. It may be managed by the organization or a third party andmay exist on-premises or off-premises.

Community cloud: the cloud infrastructure is shared by severalorganizations and supports a specific community that has shared concerns(e.g., mission, security requirements, policy, and complianceconsiderations). It may be managed by the organizations or a third partyand may exist on-premises or off-premises.

Public cloud: the cloud infrastructure is made available to the generalpublic or a large industry group and is owned by an organization sellingcloud services.

Hybrid cloud: the cloud infrastructure is a composition of two or moreclouds (private, community, or public) that remain unique entities butare bound together by standardized or proprietary technology thatenables data and application portability (e.g., cloud bursting forload-balancing between clouds).

A cloud computing environment is service oriented with a focus onstatelessness, low coupling, modularity, and semantic interoperability.At the heart of cloud computing is an infrastructure that includes anetwork of interconnected nodes.

Referring now to FIG. 1, illustrative cloud computing environment 50 isdepicted. As shown, cloud computing environment 50 includes one or morecloud computing nodes 10 with which local computing devices used bycloud consumers, such as, for example, personal digital assistant (PDA)or cellular telephone 54A, desktop computer 54B, laptop computer 54C,and/or automobile computer system 54N may communicate. Nodes 10 maycommunicate with one another. They may be grouped (not shown) physicallyor virtually, in one or more networks, such as Private, Community,Public, or Hybrid clouds as described hereinabove, or a combinationthereof. This allows cloud computing environment 50 to offerinfrastructure, platforms and/or software as services for which a cloudconsumer does not need to maintain resources on a local computingdevice. It is understood that the types of computing devices 54A-N shownin FIG. 1 are intended to be illustrative only and that computing nodes10 and cloud computing environment 50 can communicate with any type ofcomputerized device over any type of network and/or network addressableconnection (e.g., using a web browser).

Referring now to FIG. 2, a set of functional abstraction layers providedby cloud computing environment 50 (FIG. 1) is shown. It should beunderstood in advance that the components, layers, and functions shownin FIG. 2 are intended to be illustrative only and embodiments of thedisclosure are not limited thereto. As depicted, the following layersand corresponding functions are provided:

Hardware and software layer 60 includes hardware and softwarecomponents. Examples of hardware components include: mainframes 61; RISC(Reduced Instruction Set Computer) architecture based servers 62;servers 63; blade servers 64; storage devices 65; and networks andnetworking components 66. In some embodiments, software componentsinclude network application server software 67 and database software 68.

Virtualization layer 70 provides an abstraction layer from which thefollowing examples of virtual entities may be provided: virtual servers71; virtual storage 72; virtual networks 73, including virtual privatenetworks; virtual applications and operating systems 74; and virtualclients 75.

In one example, management layer 80 may provide the functions describedbelow. Resource provisioning 81 provides dynamic procurement ofcomputing resources and other resources that are utilized to performtasks within the cloud computing environment. Metering and Pricing 82provide cost tracking as resources are utilized within the cloudcomputing environment, and billing or invoicing for consumption of theseresources. In one example, these resources may include applicationsoftware licenses. Security provides identity verification for cloudconsumers and tasks, as well as protection for data and other resources.User portal 83 provides access to the cloud computing environment forconsumers and system administrators. Service level management 84provides cloud computing resource allocation and management such thatrequired service levels are met. Service Level Agreement (SLA) planningand fulfillment 85 provide pre-arrangement for, and procurement of,cloud computing resources for which a future requirement is anticipatedin accordance with an SLA.

Workloads layer 90 provides examples of functionality for which thecloud computing environment may be utilized. Examples of workloads andfunctions which may be provided from this layer include: mapping andnavigation 91; software development and lifecycle management 92; virtualclassroom education delivery 93; data analytics processing 94;transaction processing 95; and a trained cognitive system 96 toautomatically facilitate executing an effective evacuation during anemergency through a digital twin of the affected facility structure anddigital twins of the evacuees.

Referring to FIG. 3, a block diagram of an example data processingsystem, hereon referred to as computer system 100 is provided. System100 may be embodied in a computer system/server in a single location, orin at least one embodiment, may be configured in a cloud-based systemsharing computing resources. For example, and without limitation, thecomputer system 100 may be used as a cloud computing node 10.

Aspects of the computer system 100 may be embodied in a computersystem/server in a single location, or in at least one embodiment, maybe configured in a cloud-based system sharing computing resources as acloud-based support system, to implement the system, tools, andprocesses described herein. The computer system 100 is operational withnumerous other general purpose or special purpose computer systemenvironments or configurations. Examples of well-known computer systems,environments, and/or configurations that may be suitable for use withthe computer system 100 include, but are not limited to, personalcomputer systems, server computer systems, thin clients, thick clients,hand-held or laptop devices, multiprocessor systems,microprocessor-based systems, set top boxes, programmable consumerelectronics, network PCs, minicomputer systems, mainframe computersystems, and file systems (e.g., distributed storage environments anddistributed cloud computing environments) that include any of the abovesystems, devices, and their equivalents.

The computer system 100 may be described in the general context ofcomputer system-executable instructions, such as program modules, beingexecuted by The computer system 100. Generally, program modules mayinclude routines, programs, objects, components, logic, data structures,and so on that perform particular tasks or implement particular abstractdata types. The computer system 100 may be practiced in distributedcloud computing environments where tasks are performed by remoteprocessing devices that are linked through a communications network. Ina distributed cloud computing environment, program modules may belocated in both local and remote computer system storage media includingmemory storage devices.

As shown in FIG. 3, the computer system 100 is shown in the form of ageneral-purpose computing device. The components of the computer system100 may include, but are not limited to, one or more processors orprocessing devices 104 (sometimes referred to as processors andprocessing units), e.g., hardware processors, a system memory 106, and acommunications bus 102 that couples various system components includingthe system memory 106 to the processing device 104. The communicationsbus 102 represents one or more of any of several types of busstructures, including a memory bus or memory controller, a peripheralbus, an accelerated graphics port, and a processor or local bus usingany of a variety of bus architectures. By way of example, and notlimitation, such architectures include Industry Standard Architecture(ISA) bus, Micro Channel Architecture (MCA) bus, Enhanced ISA (EISA)bus, Video Electronics Standards Association (VESA) local bus, andPeripheral Component Interconnects (PCI) bus. The computer system 100typically includes a variety of computer system readable media. Suchmedia may be any available media that is accessible by the computersystem 100 and it includes both volatile and non-volatile media,removable and non-removable media. In addition, the computer system 100may include one or more persistent storage devices 108, communicationsunits 110, input/output (I/O) units 112, and displays 114.

The processing device 104 serves to execute instructions for softwarethat may be loaded into the system memory 106. The processing device 104may be a number of processors, a multi-core processor, or some othertype of processor, depending on the particular implementation. A number,as used herein with reference to an item, means one or more items.Further, the processing device 104 may be implemented using a number ofheterogeneous processor systems in which a main processor is presentwith secondary processors on a single chip. As another illustrativeexample, the processing device 104 may be a symmetric multi-processorsystem containing multiple processors of the same type.

The system memory 106 and persistent storage 108 are examples of storagedevices 116. A storage device may be any piece of hardware that iscapable of storing information, such as, for example without limitation,data, program code in functional form, and/or other suitable informationeither on a temporary basis and/or a permanent basis. The system memory106, in these examples, may be, for example, a random access memory orany other suitable volatile or non-volatile storage device. The systemmemory 106 can include computer system readable media in the form ofvolatile memory, such as random access memory (RAM) and/or cache memory.

The persistent storage 108 may take various forms depending on theparticular implementation. For example, the persistent storage 108 maycontain one or more components or devices. For example, and withoutlimitation, the persistent storage 108 can be provided for reading fromand writing to a non-removable, non-volatile magnetic media (not shownand typically called a “hard drive”). Although not shown, a magneticdisk drive for reading from and writing to a removable, non-volatilemagnetic disk (e.g., a “floppy disk”), and an optical disk drive forreading from or writing to a removable, non-volatile optical disk suchas a CD-ROM, DVD-ROM or other optical media can be provided. In suchinstances, each can be connected to the communication bus 102 by one ormore data media interfaces.

The communications unit 110 in these examples may provide forcommunications with other computer systems or devices. In theseexamples, the communications unit 110 is a network interface card. Thecommunications unit 110 may provide communications through the use ofeither or both physical and wireless communications links.

The input/output unit 112 may allow for input and output of data withother devices that may be connected to the computer system 100. Forexample, the input/output unit 112 may provide a connection for userinput through a keyboard, a mouse, and/or some other suitable inputdevice. Further, the input/output unit 112 may send output to a printer.The display 114 may provide a mechanism to display information to auser. Examples of the input/output units 112 that facilitateestablishing communications between a variety of devices within thecomputer system 100 include, without limitation, network cards, modems,and input/output interface cards. In addition, the computer system 100can communicate with one or more networks such as a local area network(LAN), a general wide area network (WAN), and/or a public network (e.g.,the Internet) via a network adapter (not shown in FIG. 3). It should beunderstood that although not shown, other hardware and/or softwarecomponents could be used in conjunction with the computer system 100.Examples of such components include, but are not limited to: microcode,device drivers, redundant processing units, external disk drive arrays,RAID systems, tape drives, and data archival storage systems.

Instructions for the operating system, applications and/or programs maybe located in the storage devices 116, which are in communication withthe processing device 104 through the communications bus 102. In theseillustrative examples, the instructions are in a functional form on thepersistent storage 108. These instructions may be loaded into the systemmemory 106 for execution by the processing device 104. The processes ofthe different embodiments may be performed by the processing device 104using computer implemented instructions, which may be located in amemory, such as the system memory 106. These instructions are referredto as program code, computer usable program code, or computer readableprogram code that may be read and executed by a processor in theprocessing device 104. The program code in the different embodiments maybe embodied on different physical or tangible computer readable media,such as the system memory 106 or the persistent storage 108.

The program code 118 may be located in a functional form on the computerreadable media 120 that is selectively removable and may be loaded ontoor transferred to the computer system 100 for execution by theprocessing device 104. The program code 118 and computer readable media120 may form a computer program product 122 in these examples. In oneexample, the computer readable media 120 may be computer readablestorage media 124 or computer readable signal media 126. Computerreadable storage media 124 may include, for example, an optical ormagnetic disk that is inserted or placed into a drive or other devicethat is part of the persistent storage 108 for transfer onto a storagedevice, such as a hard drive, that is part of the persistent storage108. The computer readable storage media 124 also may take the form of apersistent storage, such as a hard drive, a thumb drive, or a flashmemory, that is connected to the computer system 100. In some instances,the computer readable storage media 124 may not be removable from thecomputer system 100.

Alternatively, the program code 118 may be transferred to the computersystem 100 using the computer readable signal media 126. The computerreadable signal media 126 may be, for example, a propagated data signalcontaining the program code 118. For example, the computer readablesignal media 126 may be an electromagnetic signal, an optical signal,and/or any other suitable type of signal. These signals may betransmitted over communications links, such as wireless communicationslinks, optical fiber cable, coaxial cable, a wire, and/or any othersuitable type of communications link. In other words, the communicationslink and/or the connection may be physical or wireless in theillustrative examples.

In some illustrative embodiments, the program code 118 may be downloadedover a network to the persistent storage 108 from another device orcomputer system through the computer readable signal media 126 for usewithin the computer system 100. For instance, program code stored in acomputer readable storage medium in a server computer system may bedownloaded over a network from the server to the computer system 100.The computer system providing the program code 118 may be a servercomputer, a client computer, or some other device capable of storing andtransmitting the program code 118.

The program code 118 may include one or more program modules (not shownin FIG. 3) that may be stored in system memory 106 by way of example,and not limitation, as well as an operating system, one or moreapplication programs, other program modules, and program data. Each ofthe operating systems, one or more application programs, other programmodules, and program data or some combination thereof, may include animplementation of a networking environment. The program modules of theprogram code 118 generally carry out the functions and/or methodologiesof embodiments as described herein.

The different components illustrated for the computer system 100 are notmeant to provide architectural limitations to the manner in whichdifferent embodiments may be implemented. The different illustrativeembodiments may be implemented in a computer system including componentsin addition to or in place of those illustrated for the computer system100.

The present disclosure may be a system, a method, and/or a computerprogram product at any possible technical detail level of integration.The computer program product may include a computer readable storagemedium (or media) having computer readable program instructions thereonfor causing a processor to carry out aspects of the present disclosure.

The computer readable storage medium can be a tangible device that canretain and store instructions for use by an instruction executiondevice. The computer readable storage medium may be, for example, but isnot limited to, an electronic storage device, a magnetic storage device,an optical storage device, an electromagnetic storage device, asemiconductor storage device, or any suitable combination of theforegoing. A non-exhaustive list of more specific examples of thecomputer readable storage medium includes the following: a portablecomputer diskette, a hard disk, a random access memory (RAM), aread-only memory (ROM), an erasable programmable read-only memory (EPROMor Flash memory), a static random access memory (SRAM), a portablecompact disc read-only memory (CD-ROM), a digital versatile disk (DVD),a memory stick, a floppy disk, a mechanically encoded device such aspunch-cards or raised structures in a groove having instructionsrecorded thereon, and any suitable combination of the foregoing. Acomputer readable storage medium, as used herein, is not to be construedas being transitory signals per se, such as radio waves or other freelypropagating electromagnetic waves, electromagnetic waves propagatingthrough a waveguide or other transmission media (e.g., light pulsespassing through a fiber-optic cable), or electrical signals transmittedthrough a wire.

Computer readable program instructions described herein can bedownloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computerreadable storage medium or to an external computer or external storagedevice via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, awide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprisecopper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wirelesstransmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/oredge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in eachcomputing/processing device receives computer readable programinstructions from the network and forwards the computer readable programinstructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium withinthe respective computing/processing device.

Computer readable program instructions described herein can bedownloaded to respective computing/processing devices from a computerreadable storage medium or to an external computer or external storagedevice via a network, for example, the Internet, a local area network, awide area network and/or a wireless network. The network may comprisecopper transmission cables, optical transmission fibers, wirelesstransmission, routers, firewalls, switches, gateway computers and/oredge servers. A network adapter card or network interface in eachcomputing/processing device receives computer readable programinstructions from the network and forwards the computer readable programinstructions for storage in a computer readable storage medium withinthe respective computing/processing device.

Computer readable program instructions for carrying out operations ofthe present disclosure may be assembler instructions,instruction-set-architecture (ISA) instructions, machine instructions,machine dependent instructions, microcode, firmware instructions,state-setting data, configuration data for integrated circuitry, oreither source code or object code written in any combination of one ormore programming languages, including an object oriented programminglanguage such as Smalltalk, C++, or the like, and procedural programminglanguages, such as the “C” programming language or similar programminglanguages. The computer readable program instructions may executeentirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as astand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partlyon a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer or server. Inthe latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user'scomputer through any type of network, including a local area network(LAN) or a wide area network (WAN), or the connection may be made to anexternal computer (for example, through the Internet using an InternetService Provider). In some embodiments, electronic circuitry including,for example, programmable logic circuitry, field-programmable gatearrays (FPGA), or programmable logic arrays (PLA) may execute thecomputer readable program instructions by utilizing state information ofthe computer readable program instructions to personalize the electroniccircuitry, in order to perform aspects of the present disclosure.

Aspects of the present disclosure are described herein with reference toflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, apparatus(systems), and computer program products according to embodiments of thedisclosure. It will be understood that each block of the flowchartillustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in theflowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented bycomputer readable program instructions.

These computer readable program instructions may be provided to aprocessor of a computer, or other programmable data processing apparatusto produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via theprocessor of the computer or other programmable data processingapparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified inthe flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks. These computerreadable program instructions may also be stored in a computer readablestorage medium that can direct a computer, a programmable dataprocessing apparatus, and/or other devices to function in a particularmanner, such that the computer readable storage medium havinginstructions stored therein comprises an article of manufactureincluding instructions which implement aspects of the function/actspecified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

The computer readable program instructions may also be loaded onto acomputer, other programmable data processing apparatus, or other deviceto cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer,other programmable apparatus or other device to produce a computerimplemented process, such that the instructions which execute on thecomputer, other programmable apparatus, or other device implement thefunctions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block orblocks.

The flowchart and block diagrams in the Figures illustrate thearchitecture, functionality, and operation of possible implementationsof systems, methods, and computer program products according to variousembodiments of the present disclosure. In this regard, each block in theflowchart or block diagrams may represent a module, segment, or portionof instructions, which comprises one or more executable instructions forimplementing the specified logical function(s). In some alternativeimplementations, the functions noted in the blocks may occur out of theorder noted in the Figures. For example, two blocks shown in successionmay, in fact, be accomplished as one step, executed concurrently,substantially concurrently, in a partially or wholly temporallyoverlapping manner, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in thereverse order, depending upon the functionality involved. It will alsobe noted that each block of the block diagrams and/or flowchartillustration, and combinations of blocks in the block diagrams and/orflowchart illustration, can be implemented by special purposehardware-based systems that perform the specified functions or acts orcarry out combinations of special purpose hardware and computerinstructions.

The descriptions of the various embodiments of the present disclosurehave been presented for purposes of illustration, but are not intendedto be exhaustive or limited to the embodiments disclosed. Manymodifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skillin the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the describedembodiments. The terminology used herein was chosen to best explain theprinciples of the embodiments, the practical application or technicalimprovement over technologies found in the marketplace, or to enableothers of ordinary skill in the art to understand the embodimentsdisclosed herein.

Many known structures function as enclosures, such as office buildings,apartment buildings, shopping centers, and industrial facilities, or thelike. Such structures may house or otherwise enclose a number ofindividuals at least temporarily residing within the enclosure definedby the structure. Under some circumstances, conditions may generateemergency conditions that may warrant evacuation of the individuals fromthe affected areas, up to, and including, the entire facility structure.During such evacuation, it is possible that a large number ofindividuals will be leaving the affected areas and seeking haven andshelter elsewhere. Such known structures may include features such asvisual strobe alarms and pre-recorded evacuation instructions. However,obstacles such as smoke may impair some individuals' abilities tonavigate themselves to safety, thereby increasing chaotic conditions inan already chaotic environment.

A system, computer program product, and method are disclosed anddescribed herein for cognitive systems and leveraging a trainedcognitive system to automatically facilitate executing an effectiveevacuation during an emergency through a digital twin of the affectedstructure and digital twins of the evacuees. In one embodiment, one ormore digital twins of the facility, i.e., the structure of the facilityis created, where the digital twin is resident within a high-fidelitymachine learning (ML) model of the structure. The training of theassociated high-fidelity ML model includes ingestion, by the structuralmodel, documents maintained within a knowledge base directed toward theconfiguration and parameters of the structure that include, withoutlimitation, construction drawings, operation and maintenance manuals,and any other documentation that enables operation of the system throughthe methods described herein. In particular, configuration data andparameters associated with windows, doors, and passageways (e.g.,hallways and/or areas through which humans move when traversing thestructure) are ingested. Furthermore, details with respect to thoseregions of the structure that include potentially hazardous features,for example, and without limitation, glass features, pressurized gascanisters, electrical switchgear, and chemical storage, are ingested.

In addition, as a portion of the data ingestion by the structural MLmodel, ventilation system configuration data and parameters arecollected and injected into the structural ML model. Such data includes,without limitation, ventilation fan capacities, ventilation duct layoutsthroughout the structure, and ventilation damper and intake/dischargeopening locations in the ducts. Furthermore, the details with respect tothe ventilation control systems are ingested, including, withoutlimitation, measurement sensor locations and ranges, and control devicelocations and ranges, i.e., substantially all input and outputsassociated with the ventilation system. Accordingly, the staticstructural features of the facility are ingested by the ML structuralmodel. Throughout this disclosure fans, ducts, dampers, dischargeopenings, control systems, and the like are referred to as ventilationfans/ventilation ducts/ventilation dampers/etc. for purposes ofdiscussion. However, one of ordinary skill in the art would understoodthat this disclosure covers and is consistent with using some and/or allfans/ducts/dampers/etc. that are part of a greater heating, ventilation,and air conditioning (HVAC) system (e.g., rather than just using andcovering components that are part of a ventilation aspect of the HVACsystem that refreshes and cleans air for the structure), such thatgeneral HVAC fans/ducts/dampers/etc. may be used interchangeably withventilation fans/ventilation ducts/ventilation dampers/etc. as usedherein.

In at least some embodiments, the dynamic features of the ventilationsystem and the structures are recorded and injected into the MLstructural model. More specifically, empirical data is recorded by themeasurement devices within the structure including one or moreenvironmental measurements representative of one or more environmentalconditions within the structure. The data is recorded for a full rangeof ventilation system configurations, including normal operations andemergency operations. For example, and without limitation, airtemperatures, air pressures, and air flow directions and speeds arerecorded. Also, for example, atmosphere measurements associated with themovement of test substances that simulate smoke and/or other adverseenvironmental conditions as circulated by the ventilation system duringtesting activities are recorded, including, without limitation, adverseenvironmental material densities and adverse environmental conditionsmovement directions and speed. In addition, additional capturing ofhistorical air flow patterns inside the structure in differentconfigurations includes, without limitation, varying open/closed windowand door configurations to capture changes and differences ofexternal-to-internal and internal-to-external air flows, includingdynamic changes as the door and window configurations are changed.Accordingly, the dynamic data associated with the ventilation system andthe structure across a wide range of possible conditions is recorded andinjected into the structural model.

In at least some embodiments, historical evacuation data and parametersare recorded. For example, the machine learning model captures thedetails associated with actual emergency evacuations and practiceevacuations to determine best practices for future emergencyevacuations. Such recorded data includes, without limitation, adverseenvironmental material densities and adverse environmental conditionsmovement directions and speeds as a function of the recorded respectiveventilation system configurations. Also, without limitation, for thevarious emergency conditions, the more effective, as well as the lesseffective, ventilation system configurations are determined. Suchconfigurations include, without limitation, the number of ventilationfans providing forced draft into the structure, the number ofventilation fans providing removal draft from the structure, andventilation damper positions. In some embodiments, the training of thestructural ML model is conducted on a continuous basis as uniqueconditions are presented. Accordingly, empirical data associated withthe performance of the ventilation system during actual and simulatedemergencies is recorded and injected into the structural ML model.

In one or more embodiments, the trained high-fidelity structural MLmodel is placed into production to modulate the ventilation system as afunction of the measured conditions, including, without limitation,external environmental (e.g., weather) conditions, and existing andanticipated occupancy of the structure, including a room-by-room andpassageway-by-passageway granularity. For example, and withoutlimitation, room sensors may be able to discriminate between those roomswith no occupancy that may require less ventilation than those roomswith full occupancy that may require more ventilation. In someembodiments, the trained high-fidelity structural ML model is placedinto production through a digital twin prediction/simulation engine,where the structural digital twin within the structural ML model isplaced into production.

In one or more embodiments, in addition to the digital twin of thestructure, including the ventilation system, digital twins of theoccupants are created by the digital twin prediction/simulation engine.The digital twins of the occupants are resident within the respectivehigh-fidelity occupant ML models, and, in some embodiments, eachoccupant in the structure has a corresponding digital twin. Eachoccupant ML model is trained with data that includes, withoutlimitation, historical occupant biometric and health data and theassociated parameters for each respective occupant. Such physical healthconditions data includes, without limitation, pregnancy, pacemakers, andadvanced age, and mobility issues such as knee issues andwheelchair/walker/crutch requirements. In addition, the historicalbehavioral patterns of each respective occupant is ingested by therespective occupant ML models. Such behavioral parameters include,without limitation, anxiety levels, and susceptibility to panic attacks.Sources for the behavioral parameters include, without limitation,professional evaluations and social media. The data used to generate thedigital twins for the occupants will meet or exceed all respectiveprivacy and confidentially laws and requirements. In addition to theindividual occupants' health and mobility parameters, the number ofoccupants and their respective positions within the structure aremaintained in real-time, as well as behaviorally through determinedroutines for each respective occupant. In a manner similar to that forthe structural digital twin, the occupant digital twins are placed intoproduction and managed through the digital twin prediction/simulationengine. Accordingly, for each occupant, a respective digital twin isgenerated by the digital twin prediction/simulation engine such that theoccupants are simulated within the model, including a simulatedindividualized occupant evacuation plan, taking into account theoccupants' present location, their respective medical and behavioralconditions, and distribution of the occupants to be evacuated to providea safe, efficient, and effective evacuation.

In at least some embodiments, and as described above, measurement dataindicative of the environmental conditions within and throughout thestructure is continuously collected. Mechanisms for collecting the realtime data of the environmental conditions within the structure include,without limitation, installed sensors such as, and without limitation,pressure sensors, temperature sensors, flow sensors, infrared sensors,cameras, smoke detectors, and carbon monoxide detectors. Theaforementioned sensors may be any combination of wired and wirelessdevices. In addition, such sensors may include Internet of Things (IoT)devices, such as, and without limitation, mobile phones, portablesensors, and position monitoring devices borne by the occupants.Furthermore, activation of automatic sprinkler systems may be used toidentify the nature and location of the hazardous conditions, includingthe magnitude and rate of growth or containment of the hazard.

The digital twin prediction/simulation engine is trained to determinemeasurements that may be indicative of an incipient hazardous conditiondeveloping in real time. Many of the embodiments of the systemsdescribed herein include structural ML models and structural digitaltwins with ventilation details to predict one or more environmentalconditions adverse to one or more occupants within the structure. Insome embodiments, such predicting activities include tracking theairflow movement direction inside the building, and utilizing theknowledge the model was trained with, to predict how hazardousconditions, such as, without limitation, smoke, will be flowing.Specifically, the direction of smoke movement inside the building, andhow the current environmental parameters inside the building isinfluencing the flow and direction of spread of smoke, are analyzed. Inaddition, the relative positioning and the nature of the emergencyconditions within the structure causing the hazardous environment may bedetermined, e.g., without limitation, fire in a particular room.Furthermore, the type and severity of the emergency conditions may beestablished.

In some embodiments, the accumulated knowledge, both historical and realtime, may indicate to the digital twin prediction/simulation engine aneed to evacuate at least a portion of the occupants within thestructure. Therefore, the model may determine, subject to the one ormore adverse environmental conditions determination, one or moreevacuation routes through the structure, including at least a firstportion of the one or more passageways therein. In some embodiments, theevacuation routes may be created, at least partially subject to theprediction and simulation, through the digital twinprediction/simulation engine operating in conjunction with theventilation system. In some embodiments, the digital twinprediction/simulation engine operating in conjunction with theventilation system will maintain established evacuation routes.Moreover, in some embodiments, these two features may overlap.

In one or more embodiments, at least partially creating the one or moreevacuation routes includes modulating one or more ventilation devicesand inducing, subject to the ventilation devices' modulation, atmospherepressure modulations within the one or more passageways, and in somecases, one or more rooms or enclosures within the structure. Themodulations of the pressures throughout the various enclosures andpassageways in the structure give rise to controlling the wind or airflows therein. Therefore, the digital twin prediction/simulation engineand the ventilation system include the capabilities to dynamicallycontrol the direction of flow of smoke and breathable air to alter theair flow direction with positive and negative pressure gradients. Suchdynamic flow control is at least partially based on recording, throughone or more atmosphere pressure measurement devices, real timeventilation measurement data; recording one or more real time atmospherepressures; recording one or more real time atmosphere temperatures;recording one or more real time adverse environmental materialdensities; and recording one or more real time adverse environmentalconditions movement directions and speed. Based on the historical andreal time measurements, the digital twin of the structure, including theventilation system, will be predicting smoke movement patterns insidethe building and will predict one or more effective evacuation pathsthrough the digital twin simulation features. In addition to the smokemovement and evacuation predictions, the structural digital twinpredicts those actions that may be used to identify how the smoke can beredirected through operation of the ventilation system, or any otherrobotic or automation mechanisms that may be applied which can redirectthe airflow, as well as human intervention if necessary. The evacuationroutes will be communicated to the respective occupants. The simulationwill determine those exits that are, and are not, safe for evacuations.

In at least some embodiments, subject to the evacuation routepredictions, the structural digital twin will regulate the ventilationsystem to modulate atmosphere pressures within the evacuation routes andnon-evacuation regions. For example, and without limitation, thepressures in the evacuation routes may be increased and the pressures inthe non-evacuation regions may be decreased to induce the smoke to flowtoward the non-evacuation regions from the evacuation routes. As theventilation system begins to alter the smoke flow patterns in thestructure, the real time data as described above continues to bereceived by the digital twin prediction/simulation engine and thepredicted adverse environmental conditions movement patterns within theaffected portions of the structure are modified based on the incomingdata. In addition, subject to the modified predictions of the predictedadverse environmental conditions movement patterns, the simulation ofthe adverse environmental conditions movement within the affectedportions of the structure are modified. Accordingly, as the simulationis modified, the ventilation system is operated to modulate theatmosphere pressures in one or more respective passageways to move atleast a portion of the adverse environmental conditions from theevacuation routes to the non-evacuation regions. Accordingly, real timeventilation measurement data, ventilation system configuration data, andthe respective modified parameters are used to simulate and execute anevacuation plan.

In one or more embodiments, subject to the evacuation routes beingdetermined and efforts towards clearing the evacuation routes of theadverse environmental conditions are initiated, such conditionsfacilitate an evacuation of the occupants from an affected portion ofthe structure. The high-fidelity occupant ML models, i.e., the digitaltwins of the occupants, receive real time occupant biometric and healthdata and parameters, thereby each digital twin of each respectiveoccupant is identified. Based on the nature of the adverse environmentalconditions, and the historical data and parameters of the occupants usedto train the respective digital twins, for each digital twin, respectivephysical difficulties that are predicted for the evacuation aresimulated. Such simulated physical difficulties may include one or moreof discomfort during movement, or inability to walk or run, low speed ofmovement, and necessity for assistance with a wheelchair. In addition,for each respective digital twin, an evacuation plan is dynamicallysimulated. The simulated evacuation plan is based on the individualizedevacuation plan for each respective digital twin, where the evacuationroutes are dynamically assigned to the respective digital twins, therebyefficiently and effectively orchestrating the evacuation to avoidovercrowding of any of the evacuation routes.

The simulated evacuation plan is at least partially further based on asimulated population capacity of each evacuation route, the predictedpopulations and population densities at each emergency exit, predictedchanges in populations at each emergency exit and along the evacuationroutes as a function of real time feedback of the number of occupants intransit. In addition, the simulated evacuation plan may be at leastpartially further based on the changes in the emergency conditions, theperiod of time estimated for each in transit occupant to arrive at eachrespective emergency exit based on their measured rate of progressthrough the evacuation route and known medical infirmities, actual realtime changes in populations in the evacuation routes and at eachemergency exit through feedback from an arrival at each emergency exitof the in transit occupants, and/or real-time changes to the number ofin transit occupants within the evacuation routes directed toward therespective emergency exits. Accordingly, real time evacuation data andrespective parameters and real time occupant data and parameters areused to orchestrate the evacuation.

To facilitate the evacuation, each individual occupant receivespersonalized guidance with virtual assistance, including, withoutlimitation, voice instructions through a speaker system of a portabledevice, such as a mobile phone, subject to the limitations of therespective occupants. As the occupants are observed traversing theassigned evacuation routes, through the aforementioned tracking andsensing devices, real time evacuation data and parameters are receivedby the respective digital twins. Such real time feedback of theoccupants, the emergency conditions, and the ventilation system resultsin dynamically modifying the respective evacuation routes for at least aportion of the digital twins if necessary. The simulation of theventilation system will also be updated as the evacuation progresses,and the feedback from the ventilation system devices will be used tosimulate the updating of the digital twins of the occupants.Accordingly, the evacuation will continue to be predicted and simulatedthrough the structural ML digital twin and the occupants' ML digitaltwins.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is one example of cognitive systems thatrelate to the field of computer science directed at computers andcomputer behavior as related to humans and man-made and natural systems.Cognitive computing utilizes self-teaching algorithms that use, forexample, and without limitation, data analysis, visual recognition,behavioral monitoring, and natural language processing (NLP) to solveproblems and optimize human processes. The data analysis and behavioralmonitoring features analyze the collected relevant data and behaviors assubject matter data as received from the sources as discussed herein. Asthe subject matter data is received, organized, and stored, the dataanalysis and behavioral monitoring features analyze the data andbehaviors to determine the relevant details through computationalanalytical tools which allow the associated systems to learn, analyze,and understand human behavior, including within the context of thepresent disclosure. With such an understanding, the AI can surfaceconcepts and categories, and apply the acquired knowledge to teach theAI platform the relevant portions of the received data and behaviors. Inaddition to analyzing human behaviors and data, the AI platform may alsobe taught to analyze data and behaviors of man-made and natural systems.

In addition, cognitive systems such as AI, based on information, areable to make decisions, which maximizes the chance of success in a giventopic. More specifically, AI is able to learn from a dataset, includingbehavioral data, to solve problems and provide relevant recommendations.For example, in the field of artificial intelligent computer systems,machine learning (ML) systems process large volumes of data, seeminglyrelated or unrelated, where the ML systems may be trained with dataderived from a database or corpus of knowledge, as well as recordedbehavioral data. The ML systems look for, and determine, patterns, orlack thereof, in the data, “learn” from the patterns in the data, andultimately accomplish tasks without being given specific instructions.In addition, the ML systems, utilizes algorithms, represented as machineprocessable models, to learn from the data and create foresights basedon this data. More specifically, ML is the application of AI, such as,and without limitation, through creation of neural networks that candemonstrate learning behavior by performing tasks that are notexplicitly programmed. Deep learning is a type of neural-network ML inwhich systems can accomplish complex tasks by using multiple layers ofchoices based on output of a previous layer, creating increasinglysmarter and more abstract conclusions.

ML learning systems may have different “learning styles.” One suchlearning style is supervised learning, where the data is labeled totrain the ML system through telling the ML system what the keycharacteristics of a thing are with respect to its features, and whatthat thing actually is. If the thing is an object or a condition, thetraining process is called classification. Supervised learning includesdetermining a difference between generated predictions of theclassification labels and the actual labels, and then minimize thatdifference. If the thing is a number, the training process is calledregression. Accordingly, supervised learning specializes in predictingthe future.

A second learning style is unsupervised learning, where commonalitiesand patterns in the input data are determined by the ML system throughlittle to no assistance by humans. Most unsupervised learning focuses onclustering, i.e., grouping the data by some set of characteristics orfeatures. These may be the same features used in supervised learning,although unsupervised learning typically does not use labeled data.Accordingly, unsupervised learning may be used to find outliers andanomalies in a dataset, and cluster the data into several categoriesbased on the discovered features.

Semi-supervised learning is a hybrid of supervised and unsupervisedlearning that includes using labeled as well as unlabeled data toperform certain learning tasks. Semi-supervised learning permitsharnessing the large amounts of unlabeled data available in many usecases in combination with typically smaller sets of labelled data.Semi-supervised classification methods are particularly relevant toscenarios where labelled data is scarce. In those cases, it may bedifficult to construct a reliable classifier through either supervisedor unsupervised training. This situation occurs in application domainswhere labelled data is expensive or difficult obtain, likecomputer-aided diagnosis, drug discovery and part-of-speech tagging. Ifsufficient unlabeled data is available and under certain assumptionsabout the distribution of the data, the unlabeled data can help in theconstruction of a better classifier through classifying unlabeled dataas accurately as possible based on the documents that are alreadylabeled.

The third learning style is reinforcement learning, where positivebehavior is “rewarded: and negative behavior is “punished.”Reinforcement learning uses an “agent,” the agent's environment, a wayfor the agent to interact with the environment, and a way for the agentto receive feedback with respect to its actions within the environment.An agent may be anything that can perceive its environment throughsensors and act upon that environment through actuators. Therefore,reinforcement learning rewards or punishes the ML system agent to teachthe ML system how to most appropriately respond to certain stimuli orenvironments. Accordingly, over time, this behavior reinforcementfacilitates determining the optimal behavior for a particularenvironment or situation.

Deep learning is a method of machine learning that incorporates neuralnetworks in successive layers to learn from data in an iterative manner.Neural networks are models of the way the nervous system operates. Basicunits are referred to as neurons, which are typically organized intolayers. The neural network works by simulating a large number ofinterconnected processing devices that resemble abstract versions ofneurons. There are typically three parts in a neural network, includingan input layer, with units representing input fields, one or more hiddenlayers, and an output layer, with a unit or units representing targetfield(s). The units are connected with varying connection strengths orweights. Input data are presented to the first layer, and values arepropagated from each neuron to every neuron in the next layer. At abasic level, each layer of the neural network includes one or moreoperators or functions operatively coupled to output and input. Outputfrom the operator(s) or function(s) of the last hidden layer is referredto herein as activations. Eventually, a result is delivered from theoutput layers. Deep learning complex neural networks are designed toemulate how the human brain works, so computers can be trained tosupport poorly defined abstractions and problems. Therefore, deeplearning is used to predict an output given a set of inputs, and eithersupervised learning or unsupervised learning can be used to facilitatesuch results.

Referring to FIG. 4, a schematic diagram is provided illustrating acomputer system 400, that in the embodiments described herein, is adigital twin computing system 400 for structure evacuation. In at leastone embodiments, the digital twin computing system 400 includes one ormore automated machine learning (ML) system features to leverage atrained cognitive system to automatically execute an effectiveevacuation during an emergency through a digital twin of the affectedstructure and digital twins of the evacuees. In at least one embodiment,the digital twin computing system 400 is embodied as a cognitive system,i.e., an artificial intelligence (AI) platform computing system thatincludes an artificial intelligence platform 450 suitable forestablishing the aforementioned digital twins to facilitate theevacuation activities.

As shown, a server 410 is provided in communication with a plurality ofcomputing devices 480, 482, 484, 486, 488, 490, and 492 across acomputer network connection 405. The computer network connection 405 mayinclude several information handling devices. Types of informationhandling devices that can utilize the digital twin computing system 400range from small handheld devices, such as a handheld computer/mobiletelephone 480 to large mainframe systems, such as a mainframe computer482. Examples of information handling systems includes, personal digitalassistants (PDAs), personal entertainment devices, pen or tabletcomputer 484, laptop or notebook computer 486, personal computer system488, server 490, and one or more Internet of Things (IoT) devices 192,that in at least some embodiments, include connected cameras andenvironmental sensors. As shown, the various information handlingsystems can be networked together using the computer network connection405.

Various types of a computer networks can be used to interconnect thevarious information handling systems, including Local Area Networks(LANs), Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs), the Internet, the PublicSwitched Telephone Network (PSTN), other wireless networks, and anyother network topology that can be used to interconnect informationhandling systems and computing devices as described herein. Many of theinformation handling systems include non-volatile data stores, such ashard drives and/or non-volatile memory. Some of the information handlingsystems may use separate non-volatile data stores, e.g., server 490utilizes non-volatile data store 490 a, and mainframe computer 482utilizes non-volatile data store 482 a. The non-volatile data store 482a can be a component that is external to the various informationhandling systems or can be internal to one of the information handlingsystems.

The server 410 is configured with a processing device 412 incommunication with memory device 416 across a bus 414. The server 410 isshown with the artificial intelligence (AI) platform 450 for cognitivecomputing, including machine learning, over the computer networkconnection 405 from one or more of the computing devices 480, 482, 484,486, 488, 490, and 492. More specifically, the computing devices 480,482, 484, 486, 488, 490, and 492 communicate with each other and withother devices or components via one or more wired and/or wireless datacommunication links, where each communication link may comprise one ormore of wires, routers, switches, transmitters, receivers, or the like.In this networked arrangement, the server 410 and the computer networkconnection 405 enable communication, detection, recognition, andresolution. The server 410 is in operable communication with thecomputer network through communications links 402 and 404. Links 402 and404 may be wired or wireless. Other embodiments of the server 410 may beused with components, systems, sub-systems, and/or devices other thanthose that are depicted herein.

The AI platform 450 is shown herein configured with tools to enablestructure evacuation. More specifically, the AI platform 450 isconfigured for leveraging a trained cognitive system to automaticallyfacilitate executing an effective evacuation during an emergency througha digital twin of the affected structure and digital twins of theevacuees. In one embodiment, one or more digital twins of the structure,i.e., the structure of the facility is created, where the digital twinis resident within a high-fidelity machine learning (ML) model of thestructure. In addition, as a portion of data ingestion by the structuralmodel, ventilation system configuration data and parameters arecollected and injected into the structural model. Moreover, in additionto the digital twin of the structure, including the ventilation system,digital twins of the occupants are created. The digital twins of theoccupants are resident within the respective high-fidelity occupant MLmodels, and, in some embodiments, each occupant in the structure has acorresponding digital twin. Accordingly, the AI platform 450 includes alearning-based mechanism that can facilitate creation of digital twinsof the structure of a facility and digital twins of the occupantsthereof to facilitate an effective emergency evacuation.

The tools shown herein include, but are not limited to, a digital twinmanager 452 including a digital twin prediction/simulation engine 454with an air flow simulation module 456 and an air flow management module458 embedded therein. The digital twin manager 452, digital twinprediction/simulation engine 454, air flow simulation module 456, andair flow management module 458 are described further herein with respectto FIGS. 5-9.

The AI platform 450 may receive input from the computer networkconnection 405 and leverage a knowledge base 470, also referred toherein as a data source, to selectively access training and other data.The knowledge base 470 is provided operably coupled to the server 410including the processing device 412 and/or memory 416. In at least oneembodiment, the knowledge base 470 may be directly operably coupled tothe server 410. In some embodiments, the knowledge base 470 iscommunicatively coupled to the server 410 across the computer networkconnection 405. In at least one embodiment, the knowledge base 470includes a data repository 472, sometimes referred to as a data library472, or knowledge corpus 472, that may be in the form of one or moredatabases. The data repository 472 includes different databases,including, but not limited to, a digital twin database 473 that includesfacility structure data 474, ventilation system data 475, occupant data476, and environmental conditions data 477 where the digital twindatabase 473 and the resident data therein are described further herein.Accordingly, the server 410 including the AI platform 450, digital twinmanager 452 receive information from the computer network connection 405and the devices connected thereto, and the knowledge base 470.

In at least some embodiments, the digital twin database 473 includes thefull inventory of available data tables i.e., datasets, available toexecute the operations as described herein through the digital twinmanager 452 and directed towards building and dynamically updating thedigital twin of the facility's structure, including the ventilationsystem, and digital twins of the occupants therein that will requireevacuation from the structure, etc. In one or more embodiments, the datatables include a variety of subject matter embedded therein, where thedata resident within the knowledge base 170 is described in more detailherein. Similarly, the digital twins database 473 include the machinelearning models generated by the digital twin manager 452 as describedfurther herein. Accordingly, the datasets and the models generatedtherefrom are collected, generated, and managed within their respectivedatabases 473 through 477 by the digital twin manager 452.

A response output 432 includes, for example, and without limitation,output generated in response to a query of the data repository 472 thatmay include some combination of the datasets resident therein. Furtherdetails of the information displayed is described with respect to FIGS.6-9.

In at least one embodiment, the response output 432 is communicated to acorresponding network device, shown herein as a visual display 430,operatively coupled to the server 410 or in at least one otherembodiment, operatively coupled to one or more of the computing devices480-492 across the computer network connection 405.

The computer network connection 405 may include local networkconnections and remote connections in various embodiments, such that theartificial intelligence platform 450 may operate in environments of anysize, including local and global, e.g., the Internet. Additionally, theAI platform 450 serves as a front-end system that can make available avariety of knowledge extracted from or represented in network accessiblesources and/or structured data sources. In this manner, some processespopulate the AI platform 450, with the AI platform 450 also includingone or more input interfaces or portals to receive requests and respondaccordingly.

An Application Program Interface (API) is understood in the art as asoftware intermediary, e.g., invocation protocol, between two or moreapplications which may run on one or more computing environments. Withrespect to the AI platform 450 shown and described in FIG. 4, one ormore APIs may be utilized to support one or more of the tools therein,including the digital twin manager 452 and its associated functionality.Referring to FIG. 5, a block diagram 500 is provided illustrating thetool, i.e., the digital twin manager 552 and its associated API. Asshown, a tool is embedded within the AI platform 550, that is equivalentto the AI platform 450 (shown in FIG. 4). The AI platform 550 includesthe tool including, but not limited to, the digital twin manager 452(shown herein as 452) associated with API₀ 512.

The API₀ 512 may be implemented in one or more languages and interfacespecifications. API₀ 512 provides functional support for, withoutlimitation, the digital twin manager 552 that is configured tofacilitate execution of one or more operations by the server 410. Suchoperations include, without limitation, collecting, storing, andrecalling the data stored within the digital twin database 473 asdiscussed herein, and providing data management and transmissionfeatures not provided by any other managers or tools (not shown).Accordingly, the digital twin manager 552 is configured to facilitatebuilding, storing, and managing the data in the digital twin database473 including, without limitation, joining of the data resident therein.

In at least some embodiments, the digital twin prediction/simulationengine 454 and the functionality thereof is implemented through the API₀512. In addition, and more specifically, in some embodiments the API₀512 provides functional support for, without limitation, generating,within a respective high-fidelity machine learning (ML) model, a digitaltwin of the structure, including the ventilation system, of therespective facility and digital twins of the occupants thereof.Moreover, the API₀ 512 provides functional support for, withoutlimitation, the training of the associated high-fidelity ML modelincluding ingestion, of the available data with respect to thestructure, including the ventilation system, and the occupants, wherethe data may be static and dynamic. Furthermore, the API₀ 512 providesfunctional support for, without limitation, generating a simulatedindividualized occupant evacuation plan, taking into account theoccupants' present location, their respective medical and behavioralconditions, and distribution of the occupants to be evacuated to providea safe, efficient, and effective evacuation, where the API₀ predictsmedical conditions that may be manifested as a hinderance during anevacuation. Also, the API₀ 512 provides functional support for, withoutlimitation, determining hazard conditions and the most effectiveevacuation routes. In addition, the API₀ 512 provides functional supportfor, without limitation, at least partially creating the evacuationroutes through modulating one or more ventilation devices and inducing,subject to the ventilation devices' modulation, atmosphere pressuremodulations within the evacuation routes to mitigate the presence ofhazardous conditions, e.g., smoke. Moreover, the API₀ 512 providesfunctional support for, without limitation, dynamically modifying theevacuation routes through one or more of localized draft control andpersonalized evacuation directions to the occupants', thereby activelyorchestrating the evacuation.

Referring to FIG. 6, a schematic diagram is provided illustrating afacility structure 600, hereon structure 600, and the associatedventilation system 620. In one or more embodiments, the structure 600includes a plurality of exterior walls 602A and 602B. The exterior wallshave windows 604A, 604B, 604C, 604D, and 604E and exterior doors 606Aand 606B. The structure 600 also includes a plurality of interior walls608A, 608B, 608C, 608D, 608E, and 608F, that define respective interiordoors 610A, 610B, 610C, 610D, 610E, and 610F, respectively. Theinteriors walls 608A-F define a plurality of passageways 612A, 612B, and612C. The interior walls 608A-F and the exterior walls define respectiveinterior rooms 614A, 614B, 614C, 614D, 614E, and 614F. A plurality ofoccupants 616A, 616B, 616C, and 616D are shown in FIG. 6. Moreover, thestructure 600 includes a plurality of monitoring sensor devices 618,where for clarity, not all monitoring sensor devices 618 are labeled.The structure 600 as depicted in FIG. 6 and described herein is toillustrate the principles of operation of the digital twin computingsystem 400 and methods 800 and 900 as also described herein. The floorsand ceilings/roof are not shown for clarity. In some embodiments, thestructures are multi-story, and possibly including below grade levels.In such embodiments, the respective structures may have elevator,escalators, and stairs for inter-level transit by the occupants616A-616D. Accordingly, the system and methods as described herein areextendable and adaptable to enable operation as described herein for anystructural configurations of any facilities.

In one or more embodiments, the ventilation system 620 includes aventilation fan room 622 directly adjacent to the exterior wall 602B. Insome embodiments, the ventilation fan room 622 is positioned in abelow-grade level, on the roof, or in a room within the exterior walls602A and 602B. In at least one embodiment, the ventilation fan room 622includes two separate fan compartments 624A and 624B and a vestibule 626therebetween, where the number of fan compartments is not limiting. Eachof compartments 624A and 624B includes one ventilation fan 628A and628B, respectively, where the number of fans in each compartment, andthe number of fans in the ventilation fan room 622, are non-limiting.The ventilation fans 628A and 628B are any fans with any auxiliaryequipment that enable operation of the digital twin computing system 400as described herein, including, without limitation, external ventilationfan inlet dampers 630A and 630B, variable speed drives (not shown) andtranslatable inlet vanes (not shown). In some embodiments, the fan inletdampers 630A and 630B are variable position devices and in someembodiments the fan inlet dampers 630A and 630B are either discreetlyfully open or fully closed. The vestibule 626 includes an exterior door632 and each compartment 624A and 624B includes a respective door 634Aand 634B.

In addition, in at least some embodiments, the ventilation system 620includes a ventilation fan inlet damper 636A and 636B for eachrespective ventilation fan 628A and 628B to induce an inlet draft 638into each respective ventilation fan compartment 624A and 624B. Theventilation system 620 also includes a ventilation fan supply damper640A and 640B for each respective ventilation fan 628A and 628B toinduce a supply draft 642 into a ventilation duct system 644. Theventilation duct system 644 includes ventilation ducts 646A, 646B, 646C,and 646D that each include one or more intake/discharge openings 662 andone or more duct flow control dampers 664. In some embodiments, theintake/discharge openings 662 include static gratings and in someembodiments, they have variable vanes for dynamic flow controltherethrough. In some embodiments, the duct flow control dampers 664 aremodulated to regulate air flow in the associated duct. For the purposesof clarity, i.e., not showing both supply and return ducts, thedirection of orientation of the duct flow control dampers 664 is notrelevant, unless otherwise stated herein. In some embodiments, theventilation system 620 further includes at least one exhaust conduit 666coupled in flow communication with ventilation ducts, 646C and 646D. Insome embodiments, the exhaust conduit 666 exhausts to the roof of thestructure 600, and in some embodiments, the exhaust conduit 666 exhaustsanyplace that enables operation of the ventilation system 620 asdescribed herein. Also, in some embodiments, the exhaust conduit 666includes one or more monitoring sensor devices 618.

Referring to FIG. 7, a schematic diagram is provided illustrating acooperative relationship 700 between the artificial intelligenceplatform 450 of FIG. 4 (750 in FIG. 7) and the ventilation system 620(720 in FIG. 7). The tools shown herein include, but are not limited to,the digital twin manager 452 (752 in FIG. 7), including the digital twinprediction/simulation engine 454 (654 in FIG. 6) with the air flowsimulation module 456 (756 in FIG. 7), and the air flow managementmodule 458 (758 in FIG. 7) embedded therein. The artificial intelligenceplatform 750 receives data from a plurality of sources, each that willbe discussed further in relation to FIGS. 8-9. The air flow simulationmodule 756 includes the algorithms and logic necessary to simulate theair flow through the structure 600. The air flow management module 758includes the necessary algorithms and logic to direct the ventilationsystem 620 to perform the functions as described further herein based onthe air flow simulations.

Referring to FIG. 8, a flowchart is provided for a process 800 forcreating a digital twin of the affected structure and digital twins ofthe evacuees, in accordance with some embodiments of the presentdisclosure. Also referring to FIGS. 6 and 7, a digital twin of thestructure 600, including the ventilation system 620/720 is created 802.The training of the associated high-fidelity ML model that willrepresent the digital twin of the structure includes collection andingestion 804, by the digital twin manager 752, documents maintainedwithin a knowledge base directed toward the structure configuration dataand parameters 702. In at least some embodiments, such ingestedstructure configuration data and parameters 702 include, withoutlimitation, construction drawings, operation and maintenance manuals,and any other documentation that enables operation of the digital twincomputing system 400 as described herein. In particular, the ingestedstructure configuration data and parameters 702 are associated with thewindows 604A, 604B, 604C, 604D, and 604E (including air leakagetherethrough), the exterior doors 606A and 606B (including air leakagetherethrough), the interior doors 610A, 610B, 610C, 610D, 610E, and 610F(including air leakage therethrough), the passageways 612A, 612B, and612C. the interior rooms 614A, 614B, 614C, 614D, 614E, and 614F, and themonitoring sensor devices 618. Furthermore, details with respect tothose regions of the structure 600 that include potentially hazardousfeatures, for example, and without limitation, glass features,pressurized gas canisters, electrical switchgear, and chemical storage,are collected and ingested 804. The collected facility structure data474 is stored in the digital twin database 473 within the knowledge base170. The created digital twin of the structure 600 is resident withinthe high-fidelity ML model of the structure 600 that, in turn, isresident within the digital twin prediction/simulation engine 754 and isstored in the digital twin database 473. Accordingly, a high-fidelitydigital twin of the structure 600 is created through collection andingestion 804 of the known structure configuration data and parameters702 and training the respective high-fidelity model using the machinelearning features of the AI platform 750.

In addition, as a portion of the data collection and ingestion 804 forthe digital twin prediction/simulation engine, ventilation systemconfiguration data and parameters 704 are collected and injected 806into the structural digital twin. Such data includes, withoutlimitation, the flow characteristics and capacities of the ventilationfans 628A and 628B, ventilation ducts 646A, 646B, 646C, and 646D, andthe exhaust conduit 666. Such ventilation system configuration data andparameters 704 further includes the physical positioning, orientation,and flow modulation features and characteristics of the externalventilation fan inlet dampers 630A and 630B, the ventilation fan inletdampers 636A and 636B, the ventilation fan supply dampers 640A and 640B,the intake/discharge openings 662, and the duct flow control dampers664. Furthermore, the ventilation system configuration data andparameters 704 also includes the number, positioning, ranges, sensors,and calibration data associated with each monitoring sensor devices 618.The collected ventilation system data 475 is stored in the digital twindatabase 473 within the knowledge base 470. Accordingly, thehigh-fidelity digital twin of the structure 600 includes features of theventilations system 620/720 created through collection and ingestion 806of the known ventilation system configuration data and parameters 704and training the respective high-fidelity model using the machinelearning features of the AI platform 750.

In at least some embodiments, the dynamic features of the ventilationsystem 620/720 and the structure 600 are recorded and injected into thedigital twin prediction/simulation engine 754 as a portion of the knownstructure configuration data and parameters 702 and ventilation systemconfiguration data and parameters 704. More specifically, empirical datais recorded by the measurement devices 618 within the structure 600including one or more environmental measurements representative of oneor more environmental conditions within the structure 600. The data isrecorded for a full range of ventilation system 620/720 configurations,including normal operations and emergency operations. For example, andwithout limitation, air temperatures, air pressures, and air flowdirections and speeds are recorded throughout the ventilation system620/720 and the structure 600. Also, for example, atmospheremeasurements associated with the movement of test substances thatsimulate smoke and/or other adverse environmental conditions ascirculated by the ventilation system 620/720 during testing activitiesare recorded, including, without limitation, adverse environmentalmaterial densities and adverse environmental conditions movementdirections and speed. In addition, additional capturing of historicalair flow patterns inside the structure 600 in different configurationsincludes, without limitation, varying open/closed windows 604A-604E, theexterior doors 606A and 606B, the interior doors 610A-610F, running andidling ventilation fans 628A and 628B, the external ventilation faninlet dampers 630A and 630B, the ventilation fan inlet dampers 636A and636B, the ventilation fan supply dampers 640A and 640B, theintake/discharge openings 662, and the duct flow control dampers 664.Such configuration variations capture changes and differences ofexternal-to-internal and internal-to-external air flows, includingdynamic changes as the component configurations are changed. Thecollected ventilation system data 475 is stored in the digital twindatabase 473 within the knowledge base 470. Accordingly, the dynamicdata associated with the ventilation system 620/720 and the structure600 across a wide range of possible conditions is recorded and injectedinto the structural digital twin.

In one or more embodiments, in addition to the digital twin of thestructure 600, including the ventilation system 620/720, a digital twinof each occupant 616A-616D of the plurality of occupants 616A-616Dresident within the structure 600 is created 810 by the digital twinprediction/simulation engine 754. The digital twins of the occupants616A-616D are resident within the respective high-fidelity occupant MLmodels, and, in some embodiments, each occupant in the structure has acorresponding digital twin. The occupant digital twins and therespective high-fidelity occupant ML models are resident within thedigital twin prediction/simulation engine 754 and are stored in thedigital twin database 473. Each occupant ML model is trained withhistorical occupant data and parameters 706 that is collected andingested 812. The receipt of the historical occupant data and parameters706 include, without limitation, historical occupant biometric andhealth data and the associated parameters for each respective occupant616A-616D. Such physical health conditions data includes, withoutlimitation, pregnancy, pacemakers, and advanced age, and mobility issuessuch as knee issues and wheelchair/walker/crutch requirements. Inaddition, the historical behavioral patterns of each respective occupantis ingested by the respective occupant ML models. Such behavioralparameters of the occupants 616A-616D include, without limitation,anxiety levels, and susceptibility to panic attacks. Sources for thebehavioral parameters include, without limitation, professionalevaluations and social media. The data used to generate the digitaltwins for the occupants will meet or exceed all respective privacy andconfidentially laws and requirements. In addition to the individualoccupants' health and mobility parameters, the number of occupants616A-616D and their respective positions within the structure 600 aremaintained in real-time, as well as behaviorally through determinedroutines for each respective occupant 616A-616D. The collected occupantdata 476 is stored in the digital twin database 473 within the knowledgebase 470. Accordingly, for each occupant 616A-616D, a respective digitaltwin is created 810 such that the occupants 616A-616D are simulatedwithin the model through collection and ingestion 812 of historicaloccupant data and parameters 706.

In at least some embodiments, and as described above, measurement dataindicative of the environmental conditions within and throughout thestructure 600 is continuously collected 820. Mechanisms for collecting820 the data of the environmental conditions within the structure 600include, without limitation, installed sensors such as, the monitoringsensor devices 618, that include, without limitation, pressure sensors,temperature sensors, flow sensors, infrared sensors, cameras, smokedetectors, and carbon monoxide detectors. The aforementioned monitoringsensor devices 618 may be any combination of wired and wireless devices.In addition, such sensors may include Internet of Things (IoT) devices492 (shown in FIG. 4), such as, and without limitation, mobile phones(including mobile phones 480), portable sensors (not shown) (e.g.,portable carbon monoxide detectors), and position monitoring devices(not shown) borne by the occupants 616A-616D. The continuous collection820 of the environmental data and storage of the environmentalconditions data 477 within the digital twin database 473 facilitatescreating historical environmental conditions measurement data 708 thatis injected into the structural digital twin. In some embodiments,additional known environmental conditions data is injected into thestructural digital twin, where the data originates with, withoutlimitation, other facilities and other proven models. Accordingly, thestructural digital twin includes known historical environmentalconditions measurement data 708 that has been collected for a variety ofconditions of the structure 600, including historical normal conditionsand historical emergency conditions.

In some embodiments, the collecting 820 of environmental measurementsrepresentative of environmental conditions within the structure 600 bythe monitoring sensor devices 618 include generation of real timeenvironmental conditions measurement data 710. Based on the ingestion ofthe known historical environmental conditions measurement data 708, andthe real time environmental conditions measurement data 710, thestructural digital twin is trained to recognize the distinguishingenvironmental characteristics of normal environmental conditions andabnormal environmental conditions, including emergency environmentalconditions. For example, and without limitation, the digital twinprediction/simulation engine 754 is trained to determine measurementsthat may be indicative of an incipient hazardous condition developing inreal time. Therefore, the digital twin prediction/simulation engine 754may predict 822 one or more environmental conditions adverse to one ormore of the occupants 616A-616D within the structure 600. In someembodiments, such predicting activities include tracking the airflowmovement direction inside the structure 600, and utilizing the knowledgethe model was trained with, to predict how hazardous conditions, suchas, without limitation, smoke 670, will be flowing. Specifically, thedirection of smoke 670 movement inside the structure 600, and how thecurrent environmental parameters inside the structure 600 is influencingthe flow and direction of spread of smoke 670, are analyzed. Inaddition, the relative position of the emergency conditions causing thehazardous environment may be determined, e.g., without limitation, fire672. Furthermore, the type and severity of the emergency conditions maybe established. In addition to the collected environmental data by themonitoring sensor devices 618, other conditions indicative of a possibleemergency include, without limitation, occupants' position monitoringdevices that are configured to indicate a sudden change in direction,speed, and behavior of the occupants 616A-616D. Furthermore, activationof automatic sprinkler systems (not shown) by a different hazardresponse system (not shown) may be used to identify the nature andlocation of any hazardous conditions, including the magnitude and rateof growth or containment of the hazard. Accordingly, the structural MLmodel and the embedded structural digital twin are configured to predict822 environmental conditions adverse to the occupants 616A-616D withinthe structure 600 through the digital twin prediction/simulation engine754.

Referring to FIG. 9, a flowchart is provided for a process 900 forevacuating the occupants 616A-616D from the structure 600. Also,referring to FIGS. 6 and 7, prior to the present evacuation, in at leastsome embodiments, historical evacuation data and parameters 712 arerecorded. For example, the digital twin prediction/simulation engine 754captures the details associated with actual emergency evacuations andpractice evacuations to determine best practices for future emergencyevacuations. Such recorded data includes, without limitation, adverseenvironmental material densities and adverse environmental conditionsmovement directions and speeds as a function of the recorded respectiveventilation system 620/720 configurations. Also, without limitation, forthe various emergency conditions, the more effective, as well as theless effective, ventilation system 620/720 configurations aredetermined. Such configurations include, without limitation, the numberof ventilation fans 628A and 628B providing forced supply draft 642 intothe structure 600, the number of ventilation fans 628A and 628Bproviding removal draft 638 from the structure 600, and ventilationdamper positions including, without limitation, positions of theexternal ventilation fan inlet dampers 630A and 630B, the ventilationfan inlet dampers 636A and 636B, the ventilation fan supply dampers 640Aand 640B, and the duct flow control dampers 664. In some embodiments,the training of the digital twin prediction/simulation engine 454 isconducted on a continuous basis as unique conditions are presented. Insome embodiments, recorded evacuation data from other sources may beimported and injected into the digital twin prediction/simulation engine754. Accordingly, empirical data associated with the performance of theventilation system 620/720 during actual and simulated emergencies isrecorded and injected into the digital twin prediction/simulation engine754.

As described in the previous embodiments, changing pressures can beperformed with dampers and fans. While the discussion herein primarilyrelates to air intake fans with many dampers changing air flow (andtherein pressure) to different regions, one of ordinary skill in the artwould understand that in other examples a system may include a pluralityof fans spread throughout a structure that may be individually modulatedto change the pressure by themselves and/or in conjunction withrespective dampers.

In one or more embodiments, the trained high-fidelity structural MLmodel, and the embedded structural digital twin, are created and placedinto production through the digital twin prediction/simulation engine754 to modulate the ventilation system 620/720 as a function of themeasured conditions, including, without limitation, externalenvironmental (e.g., weather) conditions, and existing and anticipatedoccupancy of the structure 600, including a room-by-room andpassageway-by-passageway granularity. For example, and withoutlimitation, room sensors may be able to discriminate between those roomswith no occupancy that may require less ventilation than those roomswith full occupancy that may require more ventilation. In someembodiments, the interior doors 610A, 610B, 610C, 610D, 610E, and 610Fand the windows 604A, 604B, 604C, 604D, and 604E may be opened or closedautomatically by the digital twin prediction/simulation engine 754 tomodulate the draft in the structure 600.

In some embodiments, the accumulated knowledge, both historical and realtime, may indicate to the digital twin prediction/simulation engine 754a need to initiate 902 an evacuation of at least a portion of theoccupants 616A-616D within the structure 600. Therefore, the digitaltwin prediction/simulation engine 754 receives 904 real time occupantevacuation, biometric, and health data and parameters 716, therebyidentifying the digital twin of every respective occupant 616A-616D ofthe structure 600. In other words, the digital twins of each respectiveoccupant are matched to the respective occupants 616A-616D presentlyknown to be within the structure 600. Once the digital twinprediction/simulation engine 754 determines the occupants 616A-616D tobe evacuated, and has matched the respective digital twins to theoccupants 616A-616D, the digital twin prediction/simulation engine 754simulates 906, through each respective digital twin, any physicaldifficulty that may have been previously predicted by the digital twinprediction/simulation engine 754 as likely to be manifested as ahinderance during an evacuation.

Referring to an embodiment where a fire 672 is located in the interiorroom 614A that is generating smoke 670 that is exiting into thepassageway 612B through the respective open interior door 610A asindicated by the arrow 674. The fire 672 and smoke may be detected bythe monitoring sensor devices 618 in the vicinity of the adverseconditions. The digital twin prediction/simulation engine 754 receives908 real time ventilation measurement data, ventilation systemconfiguration data, and parameters 718 such that the digital twinprediction/simulation engine 754 may predict 910, also based on thehistorical and other real time data, adverse environmental conditionsmovement patterns within the structure 600. In the example including thefire 672 and smoke 670, the smoke 670 may be predicted to migrate towardthe passageway 612C, thereby filling the passageway 612B with smoke 670.Based on the available data, the digital twin prediction/simulationengine 754 simulates 912 for each respective occupant digital twin, arespective evacuation plan that is individualized for each occupant616A-616D, taking into account the occupants' present location and theirrespective medical and behavioral conditions. In addition, the digitaltwin prediction/simulation engine 754 distributes 914, dynamically, theoccupant digital twins throughout the evacuation routes such that thedistribution of the occupants 616A-616D to be evacuated facilitates asafe, efficient, and effective evacuation.

In one or more embodiments, based on the evacuation route simulations.the digital twin prediction/simulation engine 754 may determine 916, foreach of the occupants 616A-616D, one or more evacuation routes throughthe structure 600, including at least a first portion of the passageway612B. In addition, based on the example scenario, the best evacuationroute appears to be passageway 612B to passageway 612C an exit thestructure 600 through the exterior door 606B. Furthermore, inanticipation of smoke clearing activities, the digital twinprediction/simulation engine 754 may determine 918 non-evacuationregions, for example, the passageway 612A. Therefore, the evacuationinstructions will likely include not using the exterior door 606A toexit the structure 600.

In some embodiments, the evacuation routes may be created, at leastpartially subject to the aforementioned prediction and simulation,through the digital twin prediction/simulation engine 754 operating inconjunction with the ventilation system 620/720. In some embodiments,the digital twin prediction/simulation engine 754 operating inconjunction with the ventilation system 620/720 will maintain theestablished evacuation routes. Moreover, in some embodiments, these twofeatures may overlap. To create the evacuation routes, the digital twinprediction/simulation engine 754 may modulate 920 the atmospherepressures in the structure 600 to move the adverse environmentalconditions from the evacuation routes to the non-evacuation regions.Specifically, in one or more embodiments, at least partially creatingthe one or more evacuation routes includes modulating one or moreventilation devices and inducing, subject to the ventilation devices'modulation, atmosphere pressure modulations within the one or morepassageways, and in some cases, one or more rooms or enclosures withinthe structure. The modulations of the pressures throughout the variousenclosures and passageways in the structure give rise to controlling theair flows therein. Therefore, the digital twin prediction/simulationengine 754 and the ventilation system 620/720 include the capabilitiesto dynamically control the direction of flow of smoke and breathable airto alter the air flow direction with positive and negative pressuregradients.

In at least some embodiments, subject to the evacuation routepredictions and simulations, the digital twin prediction/simulationengine 754 will regulate the ventilation system 620/720 to modulateatmosphere pressures within the evacuation routes and non-evacuationregions. For example, and without limitation, the pressures in theevacuation routes may be increased and the pressures in thenon-evacuation regions may be decreased to induce the smoke 670 to flowtoward the non-evacuation regions from the evacuation routes. In thesmoke 670 and fire 672 example, in one embodiment, duct damper 664Acloses, thereby isolating the ventilation duct 646D from the ventilationfans 628A and 628B. The ventilation fan inlet dampers 636A and 636B foreach respective ventilation fan 628A and 628B are closed and theventilation fan supply dampers 640A and 640B for each respectiveventilation fan 628A and 628B are open to induce the supply draft 642into the ventilation duct 646C. The ventilation duct damper 664B isclosed, thereby isolating the ventilation duct 646A from the ventilationfans 628A and 628B. The supply draft 642 is directed into the passageway612C through the intake/discharge openings 662A and 662B via ventilationduct 646B to induce draft 676 into the passageway 612B. The air pressurein the vicinity of the intersection of the passageways 612C and 612Bincreases to push the smoke 670 through induced draft 678 toward theintake/discharge openings 662C and 662D into the ventilation duct 646Dfor exhaust through the exhaust conduit 666. In some embodiments, theventilation duct damper 664A and the ventilation fan inlet dampers 636Aand 636B may be modulated to decrease the air pressure in the vicinityof the intake/discharge openings 662C and 662D to increase the pressuregradient between the passageway 612C and the passageway 612A such thatthe occupants 616A-616D may evacuate the structure through thepassageways 612B and 612C through the exterior door 606B. The localmonitoring sensor devices 618 provide the real time information as tothe effectiveness of the smoke removal efforts.

As the ventilation system 620/720 begins to alter the smoke 670 flowpatterns in the structure 600, the real time data as described abovecontinues to be received by the digital twin prediction/simulationengine 754 and the predicted adverse environmental conditions movementpatterns within the affected portions of the structure are modified 922based on the incoming data. In addition, subject to the modifiedpredictions of the predicted adverse environmental conditions movementpatterns, the simulation of the adverse environmental conditionsmovement within the affected portions of the structure 600 are modified.Accordingly, as the simulation is modified, the ventilation system620/720 is operated to modulate the atmosphere pressures in therespective passageways 612A, 612B, and 612C to move at least a portionof the adverse environmental conditions from the evacuation routes (inthe example, passageways 612C and 612B) to the non-evacuation regions(passageway 612A). Accordingly, real time ventilation measurement data,ventilation system configuration data, and the respective modifiedparameters are used to simulate and execute the evacuation plan.

In one or more embodiments, subject to the evacuation routes beingdetermined and efforts towards clearing the evacuation routes of theadverse environmental conditions are initiated, such conditionsfacilitate an evacuation of the occupants 616A-616D from the affectedportion of the structure 600. The digital twin prediction/simulationengine 754, i.e., the digital twins of the occupants 616A-616D continuereceive real time occupant biometric and health data and parameters 714.Based on the nature of the adverse environmental conditions, and thehistorical data and parameters of the occupants used to create therespective occupant digital twins, for each digital twin, respectivephysical difficulties that are predicted for the evacuation aresimulated. Such simulated physical difficulties may include one or moreof discomfort during movement, or inability to walk or run, low speed ofmovement, and necessity for assistance with a wheelchair. In addition,for each respective occupant digital twin, an evacuation plan iscontinuously dynamically simulated. The simulated evacuation plan isbased on the individualized evacuation plan for each respective digitaltwin, where the evacuation routes are dynamically assigned to therespective digital twins, thereby efficiently and effectivelyorchestrating the evacuation to avoid overcrowding of any of theevacuation routes.

The simulated evacuation plan is at least partially further based on asimulated population capacity of each evacuation route, the predictedpopulations and population densities at each emergency exit, predictedchanges in populations at each emergency exit and along the evacuationroutes as a function of real time feedback of the number of occupants intransit. In addition, the simulated evacuation plan is at leastpartially further based on the changes in the emergency conditions, theperiod of time estimated for each in transit occupant to arrive at eachrespective emergency exit based on their measured rate of progressthrough the evacuation route and known medical infirmities, and actualreal time changes in populations in the evacuation routes and at eachemergency exit through feedback from an arrival at each emergency exitof the in transit occupants, and real-time changes to the number of intransit occupants within the evacuation routes directed toward therespective emergency exits. Accordingly, real time evacuation data andrespective parameters and real time occupant data and parameters areused to orchestrate the evacuation through updating 924 the simulationof the adverse environmental conditions movement within the structure600.

To facilitate the evacuation, each individual occupant receivespersonalized guidance with virtual assistance, including, withoutlimitation, voice instructions through a speaker system of a portabledevice, such as a mobile phone 480, subject to the limitations of therespective occupants 616A-616D. As the occupants 616A-616D are observedtraversing the assigned evacuation routes, through the aforementionedtracking and sensing devices, real time evacuation data and parameters716 are received 926 by the respective digital twins. Such real timefeedback of the occupants 616A-616D, the emergency conditions, and theventilation system 620/720 results in dynamically modifying 928 therespective evacuation routes for at least a portion of the digitaltwins, if necessary. The simulation of the ventilation system 620/720will also be updated as the evacuation progresses, and the feedback fromthe ventilation system devices will be used to simulate the updating ofthe occupant digital twins. Accordingly, the evacuation will continue tobe predicted and simulated through the structural ML digital twin andthe occupants' ML digital twins until the evacuation of the occupants616A-616D from the structure 600 completes 930.

The system, computer program product, and method as disclosed hereinsignificantly improve the evacuation process of occupants from astructure. The improvement includes creation of a digital twin of thestructure through machine learning techniques. Similarly, a digital twinof each occupant is created through machine learning techniques. Thedigital twins are used to create an end-to-end simulation of anevacuation from the building considering the building infrastructure,including the ventilation system. The digital twins of the occupants arebuilt with details of each of the occupants including health parametersof the occupants. In addition, real time and dynamic changes to thestatus of the structure, ventilation system, and occupants are monitoredand the simulation of the evacuation is modified as a function of thereal time data. The digital twin prediction-simulation and feedback tothe digital twins from the real-world actions facilitates creating andorchestrating an effective evacuation plan, where the occupants areevacuated in a personalized manner.

The descriptions of the various embodiments of the present disclosurehave been presented for purposes of illustration, but are not intendedto be exhaustive or limited to the embodiments disclosed. Manymodifications and variations will be apparent to those of ordinary skillin the art without departing from the scope and spirit of the describedembodiments. The terminology used herein was chosen to best explain theprinciples of the embodiments, the practical application or technicalimprovement over technologies found in the marketplace, or to enableothers of ordinary skill in the art to understand the embodimentsdisclosed herein.

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer system comprising: a server comprisingat least one processing device and at least one memory device operablycoupled to the at least one processing device; and a ventilation systemcommunicatively coupled to the server, the ventilation system and theserver cooperatively configured to: collect one or more environmentalmeasurements representative of one or more environmental conditionswithin a structure, the structure at least partially enclosing theventilation system and one or more passageways therein; predict, subjectto the collected one or more environmental measurements, one or moreenvironmental conditions adverse to one or more occupants within thestructure; determine, subject to the one or more adverse environmentalconditions determination, one or more evacuation routes including atleast a first portion of the one or more passageways; modulateatmosphere pressures within the one or more evacuation routes; andreduce, at least partially, subject to the atmosphere pressuresmodulations, the one or more adverse environmental conditions within theone or more evacuation routes.
 2. The system of claim 1, wherein thecomputer system is a cognitive system, the cognitive system isconfigured to: determine, subject to the one or more adverseenvironmental conditions determination, one or more non-evacuationregions of the structure including at least a second portion of the oneor more passageways; and modulate atmosphere pressures within the one ormore non-evacuation regions.
 3. The system of claim 2, wherein thecognitive system is an artificial intelligence (AI) platform, the systemfurther comprising: the AI platform resident within the server, the AIplatform in operable communication with at least a portion of theventilation system, the AI platform comprising: a digital twinprediction and simulation engine configured to: predict adverseenvironmental conditions movement patterns within at least a portion ofthe structure; simulate, subject to the prediction, the adverseenvironmental conditions movement within the at least a portion of thestructure; and modulate, through the ventilation system, the atmospherepressures in one or more respective passageways to move at least aportion of the adverse environmental conditions from the one or moreevacuation routes to the one or more non-evacuation regions.
 4. Thesystem of claim 3, the digital twin prediction and simulation enginefurther configured to: create, through the ventilation system, at leastpartially subject to the prediction and simulation, the one or moreevacuation routes.
 5. The system of claim 4, the ventilation systemcomprising: one or more atmosphere pressure measurement devicescommunicatively coupled to the digital twin prediction and simulationengine; and one or more ventilation air moving devices operably coupledto the digital twin prediction and simulation engine, the one or moreventilation air moving devices modulated through the digital twinprediction and simulation engine, wherein the modulation of the one ormore ventilation air moving devices induces the atmosphere pressuremodulations within the one or more passageways, thereby at leastpartially creating the one or more evacuation routes.
 6. The system ofclaim 5, the ventilation system and the digital twin prediction andsimulation engine further cooperatively configured to: record, throughthe one or more atmosphere pressure measurement devices, real timeventilation measurement data; modify, subject to the recorded real timemeasurement data, the predicted adverse environmental conditionsmovement patterns within the at least a portion of the structure;update, subject to the modified prediction, the simulation of theadverse environmental conditions movement within the at least a portionof the structure; and modulate, through the one or more ventilation airmoving devices, subject to the updated adverse environmental conditionsmovement simulation, the atmosphere pressures in one or more respectivepassageways to move at least a portion of the adverse environmentalconditions from the one or more evacuation routes to the one or morenon-evacuation regions.
 7. The system of claim 6, wherein, for each ofthe one or more passageways, the real time ventilation measurement datacomprises: the one or more real time atmosphere pressures; one or morereal time atmosphere temperatures; one or more real time adverseenvironmental material densities; and one or more real time adverseenvironmental conditions movement directions and speed.
 8. The system ofclaim 3, the digital twin prediction and simulation engine furtherconfigured to: create a digital twin of each respective occupant of theone or more occupants through receipt of one or more of: historicaloccupant biometric and health data and parameters for each respectiveoccupant of the one or more occupants; and historical behavioralpatterns of each respective occupant of the one or more occupants. 9.The system of claim 8, the digital twin prediction and simulation enginefurther configured to: facilitate an evacuation of the one or moreoccupants from the at least a portion of the structure comprising:receive real time occupant biometric and health data and parameters,thereby identify the digital twin of every respective occupant of theone or more occupants; simulate, for each digital twin, at leastpartially subject to the environmental conditions adverse to the one ormore occupants within the structure, physical difficulty predictedduring an evacuation; simulate for each respective digital twin, subjectto the modulation of the atmosphere pressures within the one or moreevacuation routes, a respective evacuation plan; distribute,dynamically, the digital twins throughout the one or more evacuationroutes; determine, at least partially subject to the distribution, anevacuation route for each digital twin; receive real time evacuationdata and parameters; and modify, dynamically, subject to the real timeevacuation data and parameters, the respective evacuation routes for atleast a portion of the digital twins.
 10. A computer program product,comprising: one or more computer readable storage media; and programinstructions collectively stored on the one or more computer storagemedia, the program instructions comprising: program instructions tocollect one or more environmental measurements representative of one ormore environmental conditions within a structure, the structure at leastpartially enclosing a ventilation system and one or more passagewaystherein; program instructions to predict, subject to the collected oneor more environmental measurements, one or more environmental conditionsadverse to one or more occupants within the structure; programinstructions to determine, subject to the one or more adverseenvironmental conditions determination, one or more evacuation routesincluding at least a first portion of the one or more passageways;program instructions to modulate atmosphere pressures within the one ormore evacuation routes; and program instructions to reduce, at leastpartially, subject to the atmosphere pressures modulations, the one ormore adverse environmental conditions within the one or more evacuationroutes.
 11. The computer program product of claim 10, furthercomprising: program instructions to determine, subject to the one ormore adverse environmental conditions determination, one or morenon-evacuation regions of the structure including at least a secondportion of the one or more passageways; program instructions to modulateatmosphere pressures within the one or more non-evacuation regions;program instructions to predict adverse environmental conditionsmovement patterns within at least a portion of the structure; programinstructions to simulate, subject to the prediction, the adverseenvironmental conditions movement within the at least a portion of thestructure; and program instructions to modulate, through the ventilationsystem, the atmosphere pressures in one or more respective passagewaysto move at least a portion of the adverse environmental conditions fromthe one or more evacuation routes to the one or more non-evacuationregions.
 12. The computer program product of claim 11, furthercomprising: program instructions to create a digital twin of eachrespective occupant of the one or more occupants through receipt of oneor more of: historical occupant biometric and health data and parametersfor each respective occupant of the one or more occupants; and programinstructions to historical behavioral patterns of each respectiveoccupant of the one or more occupants; program instructions tofacilitate an evacuation of the one or more occupants from the at leasta portion of the structure comprising: program instructions to receivereal time occupant biometric and health data and parameters, therebyidentify the digital twin of every respective occupant of the one ormore occupants; program instructions to simulate, for each digital twin,physical difficulty predicted during an evacuation; program instructionsto simulate for each respective digital twin, a respective evacuationplan; program instructions to distribute, dynamically, the digital twinsthroughout the one or more evacuation routes; program instructions todetermine, at least partially subject to the distribution, an evacuationroute for each digital twin; program instructions to receive real timeevacuation data and parameters; and program instructions to modify,dynamically, subject to the real time evacuation data and parameters,the respective evacuation routes for at least a portion of the digitaltwins.
 13. A computer-implemented method comprising: collecting one ormore environmental measurements representative of one or moreenvironmental conditions within a structure, the structure at leastpartially enclosing a ventilation system and one or more passagewaystherein; predicting, subject to the collected one or more environmentalmeasurements, one or more environmental conditions adverse to one ormore occupants within the structure; determining, subject to the one ormore adverse environmental conditions determination, one or moreevacuation routes including at least a first portion of the one or morepassageways; modulating atmosphere pressures within the one or moreevacuation routes; and reducing, at least partially, subject to theatmosphere pressures modulations, the one or more adverse environmentalconditions within the one or more evacuation routes.
 14. The method ofclaim 13, further comprising: determining, subject to the one or moreadverse environmental conditions determination, one or morenon-evacuation regions of the structure including at least a secondportion of the one or more passageways; modulating atmosphere pressureswithin the one or more non-evacuation regions; predicting adverseenvironmental conditions movement patterns within at least a portion ofthe structure; simulating, subject to the prediction, the adverseenvironmental conditions movement within the at least a portion of thestructure; and modulating, through the ventilation system, theatmosphere pressures in one or more respective passageways to move atleast a portion of the adverse environmental conditions from the one ormore evacuation routes to the one or more non-evacuation regions. 15.The method of claim 14, further comprising: creating, through theventilation system, at least partially subject to the prediction andsimulation, the one or more evacuation routes.
 16. The method of claim15, wherein at least partially creating the one or more evacuationroutes comprises: modulating one or more ventilation air moving devices;and inducing, subject to the ventilation air moving devices modulation,the atmosphere pressure modulations within the one or more passageways.17. The method of claim 16, further comprising: recording, through oneor more atmosphere pressure measurement devices, real time ventilationmeasurement data; modifying, subject to the recorded real timemeasurement data, the predicted adverse environmental conditionsmovement patterns within the at least a portion of the structure;updating, subject to the modified prediction, the simulation of theadverse environmental conditions movement within the at least a portionof the structure; and modulating, through the one or more ventilationair moving devices, subject to the updated adverse environmentalconditions movement simulation, the atmosphere pressures in one or morerespective passageways to move at least a portion of the adverseenvironmental conditions from the one or more evacuation routes to theone or more non-evacuation regions.
 18. The system of claim 17, whereinrecording the real time ventilation measurement data comprises:recording one or more real time atmosphere pressures; recording one ormore real time atmosphere temperatures; recording one or more real timeadverse environmental material densities; and recording one or more realtime adverse environmental conditions movement directions and speed. 19.The method of claim 14, further comprising: creating a digital twin ofeach respective occupant of the one or more occupants, comprising:receiving historical occupant biometric and health data and parametersfor each respective occupant of the one or more occupants; and receivinghistorical behavioral patterns of each respective occupant of the one ormore occupants.
 20. The method of claim 19, further comprising:facilitating an evacuation of the one or more occupants from the atleast a portion of the structure comprising: receiving real timeoccupant biometric and health data and parameters, thereby identify thedigital twin of every respective occupant of the one or more occupants;simulating, for each digital twin, at least partially subject to theenvironmental conditions adverse to the one or more occupants within thestructure, physical difficulty predicted during an evacuation;simulating for each respective digital twin, subject to the modulationof the atmosphere pressures within the one or more evacuation routes, arespective evacuation plan; distributing, dynamically, the digital twinsthroughout the one or more evacuation routes; determining, at leastpartially subject to the distribution, an evacuation route for eachdigital twin; receiving real time evacuation data and parameters; andmodifying, dynamically, subject to the real time evacuation data andparameters, the respective evacuation routes for at least a portion ofthe digital twins.